Jamahal Hill may be holding the UFC light heavyweight title but somewhere in the wilderness of the Czech Republic a former champion who never lost his belt is already staking his claim to a future fight.
Just moments after Hill captured the vacant 205-pound title with a lopsided decision win over Glover Teixeira in the UFC 283 main event, Jiri Prochazka took to social media with a message for the new champion.
Surrounded by trees with snow falling all around him, Prochazka lived up to his warrior roots while delivering a subdued congratulations followed by a fiery warning aimed at Hill.
“Congratulations,” Prochazka said. “I’m coming. I’m coming!”
It was a ferocious response from Prochazka, who relinquished the UFC light heavyweight title after he suffered a brutal shoulder injury that forced him to drop out of a planned rematch with Teixeira that was originally scheduled for this past December.
In the wake of the injury, Prochazka opted to surrender the belt rather than hold up the division, although the first attempt to crown a new champion came up short. Magomed Ankalaev and Jan Blachowicz battled to a majority draw at UFC 282, which prompted UFC President Dana White to then immediately shift gears to book a new title fight between Hill and Teixeira one month later at UFC 283.
Unlike the previous fight, Hill left no doubt with his performance as he dominated Teixeira through all five rounds en route to securing 50-44 scorecards across the board to claim the vacant title.
Despite dealing with a serious shoulder injury and the subsequent surgery, Prochazka has insisted that he’ll be back in a matter of months, which means he could potentially serve as Hill’s first title defense later in 2023.
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